1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for multiple sterile sample collection and isolation. In particular, the present invention is directed to a sample collection apparatus, wherein a sample can be taken from within a sealed housing, while the sample and the inside of the housing are isolated from the outside ambient environment.
2. Description of Background Art
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, the food and beverage industry, and the industrial enzyme and chemical industries all use processes that are conducted to a greater or lesser degree in isolation from the surrounding environment. While instrumentation exists for in-situ monitoring of many variables of a process, the monitoring of some variables still requires that physical samples be removed from the process for analysis elsewhere. It is frequently desirable that these samples be obtained without exposing the surrounding environment to the process, without exposing the sample material to the technician or the surrounding environment, or some or all of the above. One example of a case involving the desire to isolate the process, the surrounding environment, the technician and the sampled process material (once removed from the process) all isolated from each other is in the production of some toxic and hazardous chemotherapeutic agents or vaccines. The invention described herein provides a means through which such sampling can be accomplished. It should be understood that not all of the features of the system described need to be applied or incorporated into the system for it to be essentially the same system since, to have read this description and to have eliminated elements not necessary in a given application would be obvious to one knowledgeable in the field.